It has been brought to my attention that it may be necessary for me to explain some things about underground metal. I have decided to go through a quick primer for you on metal’s sub-genres.

The first topic I will touch on is the style of DEATH METAL. Death metal began in the early 1980s with bands such as Possessed and Death. It became a more extreme evolution of thrash metal. Death metal consists of ultra-fast guitar playing that is highly distorted and usually very intricate. The playing is quite often non-melodic. The vocals are a growled style as pioneered by the late Chuck Schuldiner (Death). At best, they sound absolutely ferocious and commanding; at worst, they resemble the cookie monster. The drumming and bass playing, like the guitars, are hyper-speed and intricate. The scene’s best work, in my opinion, came in the late 80s and early 90s in the state of Florida, spearheaded by bands like Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel. Lyrics are centered on death; some bands take a gory approach to this, while others take an occult approach. In Gothenburg, Sweden, there has developed a form of death metal with highly melodic guitar playing. England’s Carcass spawned this, but Swedes Arch Enemy and In Flames are the most well known in this style today.
The classics of death metal: Death- Scream Bloody Gore, Cannibal Corpse – Eaten Back To Life, Morbid Angel – Blessed Are The Sick
2003’s best death metal: Macabre – Murder Metal, Divine Empire – Nostradamus, Putrid Pile – Collection of Butchery

THRASH METAL was an offshoot of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). NWOBHM bands took Black Sabbath’s heavy distorted sound, but left behind the doomy slowness. The thrash sound came out of anger. The lyrics are most typically highly charged raging political rants. The playing is relentlessly fast in many cases, although some bands definitely incorporate a great amount of tempo changes. The vocals range from a high-pitched soaring approach (think Rob Halford), to Metallica’s James Hetfield, to a near death growl. The two greatest hotbeds of thrash activity are Germany and California’s Bay Area. From Germany, legends such as Deathrow, Destruction, Kreator and Sodom were spawned. The Bay Area produced Death Angel, Exodus, Metallica, Testament and Vio-Lence. The style now often incorporates some elements of death metal to create an even more extreme sense of thrashing rage.
The classics of thrash metal: Kreator- Extreme Aggressions, Megadeth – Rust In Piece, Slayer – Reign In Blood
The best thrash of 2003: Cyst – Concussion Symphony, Dark Order – The Violence Continuum, Metal Militia – Perpetual State of Aggression

PROGRESSIVE METAL and POWER METAL are the most musically indulgent forms of metal. Progressive metal is basically a heavier version of progressive rock. Queensrÿche is the ultimate prog-metal band. Even the genre’s best have, obviously and in many ways, patterned themselves after Queensrÿche. Both prog and power utilize soaring vocals in the vein of Rob Halford with epic song structures. Most musicians in these genres tend to be near virtuosic talents and are classically trained. The songs tend to range well over seven minutes in this style of music. Often prog-power bands will incorporate orchestral pieces. What sets power metal apart from prog is that it is often more aggressive and fast, as well as its subject matter seems to have a lot to do with swords and dragons. The prime power metal bands include Iced Earth, Blind Guardian and Manowar.
Prog-power classics: Dream Theater – Images & Words, Helloween – Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. I & II, Queensrÿche – Operation Mindcrime
Best prog-power of 2003: Ion Vein – Reigning Memories, Rage – Soundchaser, The Devin Townsend Band – Accelerated Evolution

BLACK METAL was spawned in the late 80s in Scandinavia. The music is very dark and often themed around the ancient myths of Scandinavia. There are two camps of black metal. The first is “True Black Metal,” which utilizes raw production to arrive at a darker sound and avoids the use of instruments outside the basic four-piece. On the other end, there is orchestral black metal which uses great production and often employs, as the name suggests, an orchestra and at the very least keyboards. Both are ultra-fast forms and vary in musical capability from rudimentary to virtuoso. The vocals are similar to a death growl but are higher and more painfully shrieked.
Black Metal Classics: Bathory – Bathory, Darkthrone – Transilvanian Hunger, Emperor – Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
Best Black Metal of 2003: Dimmu Borgir – Death Cult Armageddon, Tvangeste – Firestorm, Leviathan – The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide

GRINDCORE is a form with roots in metal and punk. This genre was born out of Britain in the late 1980s, with bands such as Carcass, Extreme Noise Terror and Napalm Death. These bands began with extreme left-wing politics as their primary lyrical agenda, but as time grew, gory lyrics became more prevalent. The music is the fastest available. Songs range from five seconds to three minutes at the absolute longest. These are artfully controlled blasts of sound. The vocals are both low guttural growls and high raspy shrieks. The drumming is centered on the blast beat. The guitar and bass exist simply for speed and heaviness, rarely with virtuosity in mind.
Grindcore classics: Carcass – Symphony of Sickness, Extreme Noise Terror – Holocaust In Your Head, Napalm Death – From Enslavement to Obliteration
Best grindcore of 2003: Exhumed – Anatomy Is Destiny, Cripple Bastards – Desperately Insensitive, Circle of Dead Children – Human Harvest